- He noted that security agents are always nowhere to be found whenever armed non-state actors are carrying out their heinous and criminal acts
Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has bemoaned the attitude of security operatives to banditry and other criminal activities in the state and country.
He stated that there was no political will to eliminate banditry and kidnapping-for-ransom trade which were booming in the state.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, Lawal said banditry and other security crisis can be eliminated in two weeks with the right political will from the Federal Government-controlled security agencies.
He stated that the police and the military’s insouciance and uninspiring attitudes toward combating the menace of banditry plaguing the state was responsible for the creation of the state security outfit, Community Protection Guards in January.
He noted that security agents are always nowhere to be found whenever armed non-state actors are carrying out their heinous and criminal acts.
He said: “We, as governors, don’t have control over the military, we don’t have control over the police as well as the civil defence. In most cases, we get frustrated.
“When you need these people, they are nowhere to be found and the best thing to do is to set up that kind of security outfit.
“Sometimes, you’re really helpless. When you need them (security agents), they are not there. Even when they are there, they are given certain instructions on what to do and what not to do.
“In two weeks, we can take care of the situation but the political will is not there.
“We know who they (bandits) are. We know where they live. It’s just that there is no political will.
“At a point, I had to really come and say it clearly because when we are trying to take care of the situation, somebody somewhere is negotiating with the bandits without my knowledge,” he said, noting that the series of negotiations with bandits by previous administrations did not yield any positive results, hence there was no basis to continue with such venture which, he said, enrich the vicious marauders.
On the identity of those negotiating with bandits, he said: “To some extent, we do.”
Further, the governor said: “Zamfara State has become the hub of banditry in Nigeria. If you can take care of Zamfara today, you have solved more than 90 per cent of issues in northern Nigeria as a whole.”
Lawal said he had met with President Bola Tinubu to complain about the saboteurs to the security challenges in the state, noting that the President had assured him that something would be done to address the challenges.
On security outfits set up by states to complement security agencies in their states, he noted that these outfits have been handicapped in their operations due to several factors, including lack of license to bear assault rifles and superior weapons to confront deadly insurgents and criminals but governors were upbeat that with a constitutional backing, these outfits will live up to their full potential
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